Quick Guide to the Top Small Business Finance Products and Integrations

We understand that lean and nimble small business owners invest their heart, soul, and most important of all, their time into delivering the best overall experience for their customers.

Of course, small businesses have needs too, with time tracking, bookkeeping and cash flow management often near the top of that list.

There are an overwhelming amount of tools and apps out there for business owners that assist with financial management, invoicing, and overall bookkeeping organization. That’s why TrustRadius provides reviews that compare and contrast the leading providers of small business accounting and invoice services, so you can spend less time shopping around.

Below we’ve listed, in alphabetical order, some of the leading small business finance products that are also loved by Fundbox users.

What is Fundbox exactly? It’s a financial resource that simplifies how small businesses can gain access to credit. Fundbox seamlessly connects with the products mentioned below to examine your business performance and determine how much credit you may qualify for. Once approved, you’re ready to put the funds to action and use it for any project your business needs: hiring, marketing, new inventory, etc.

Today, thousands of small business owners are taking advantage of these tools to streamline and grow their businesses. All four tools listed below offer a free 30-day trial, giving you the ability to see what services best suit your company’s and clients’ needs. Let’s dive in.

Quickbooks divides itself into four packages for small business owners, ranging from the “Simple Start” $7.00 offering to the top tier “Desktop Pro” selection that costs $199.95 per month and allows for an additional two users.

Many small business owners agree that Quickbooks Online is accessible, easy to learn, and keeps finances, payrolls, and invoices organized. Many reviews have highlighted the ease in ability to create and send invoices, both individually and in batches.

Quickbooks earned a 10 out of 10 rating from Meredith Turcotte of the political & tax staff at Atchley & Associates, LLP.

“We use QuickBooks Pro for a majority of our business clients,” Turcotte said. “We also use it for our firm’s accounting and payroll. It provides the functionality necessary to keep accurate financial records while being easy enough for he clients to use themselves.”

Another User, Daniel Hudson, appreciates the cross-functionality of Quickbooks Online, stating, “By integrating with other apps available on the QuickBooks Online App Store, it is possible to achieve a great deal of automation with things like sales transaction entry.”

Customers have the option of trying the service for 30 days or signing an abbreviated, three-month contract at 50% off. While exploring the service, customers can check out a large app store with many useful third-party integrations for accounts receivables, expense management, and many other categories.

FreshBooks, an accounting service for small businesses, took home an 8.2 rating out of ten on TrustRadius, earning a perfect score from the co-founder of a small business called PairLab this past December.

Iwalewe and many other small business owners singled out FreshBook’s ability to integrate with third-party programs and appreciate the ease and speed of payments. One FreshBooks user, Renea Hanks, emphasized her ability to send an invoice or estimate from just about anywhere — even the beach.

Overall, many users have benefited from the ease of time tracking, excellent customer service, and customized settings that can be catered to your business’s specific needs.

Key features of FreshBooks include invoice management, tracking billable time, and collecting online payments. FreshBooks caters to small businesses, with about 95% of their customers having less than 50 employees. The product’s most popular plan costs $25 per month and is listed as ideal for businesses that serve about 50 clients.

This online accounting software tool is “definitely worth a look,” according to reviewer Travis Campbell, CPA, CA and treasurer at a small non-profit known as Avanti Computer Systems.

Offering the product a nine out of ten rating, Campbell says that his team is using Xero to manage its A/P and produce financial statements. Campbell points out that since the product can pull a feed from Avanti’s bank, the organization also uses it to track its banking information and cut checks.

Small business owners tend to be drawn to the simple and elegant user interface, time-saving shortcuts, and real-time auto bank feeds.

Easy accessibility is also a highlighted feature of Xero. One verified user stated that “Our business is located in several different countries, and staff frequently work offsite (including at home). Xero allows us to do our accounting in the cloud.”

Like the other solutions we’ve discussed, Xero also offers a robust set of third-party integrations that allow customers to access additional financial services, task management, time tracking and more.

Harvest is a time tracking tool with the ability to manage expenses and budgeting, and support many accounting solutions as add-ons. For small businesses that have simple expense tracking and invoicing needs, it can be used in a standalone fashion.

In late 2017, Samantha Stender, the business development director of Macleod & Co. gave Harvest a 9 out of 10 based on how valuable it’s proven to be for the marketing company’s seven-employee team.

While Stender and her team use Harvest for time tracking of employee hours, it is also their invoicing tool.

“It addresses the problem of not knowing how much money to expect for the month,” said Stender. “It also makes for a professional looking invoice template that is easy to use.”

Users like Toni Stubin appreciate the light expense tracking, as it creates “no need for a third-party software.” That being said, Harvest does have the ability to integrate with other systems to track time and manage tasks on a larger scale.

Highlighted features include the easy to use mobile app, time tracking transparency, and simple invoicing function.

There are three plans priced at $12/$49/$99 per month, depending on how many users need to be supported. They also offer a free plan to be used by 1 person managing up to 4 clients or 2 projects.

Credit Solution Integration

One thing that all of these popular and highly-rated accounting and invoicing solutions have in common is their ability to be used alongside Fundbox.

QuickBooks online user and Fundbox customer Dan Geary, president of digital marketing and strategy agency Proof Interactive, says of the Fundbox integration, “It’s a sight-unseen process, and it’s very simple. We use Fundbox all the time since it cuts our cash conversion time for a portion of our Accounts Receivable to zero days.”

If approved for Fundbox Credit, small business owners using Quickbooks, FreshBooks, Xero or Harvest (as well as many other accounting solutions) can have fast and easy access to business funds. That means faster growth for small businesses, fewer stress-inducing cash flow gaps, and less time spent dealing with tedious paperwork. Truly a win-win-win.

This guest post was written by Irene Malatesta, Content Strategist at Fundbox.